Cosa Nostra News

The most amazing thing about FBI Special Agent Michael R. McGowan (retired) is not that he is the first -- and so far only -- undercover FBI agent to infiltrate three crime families. Mike McGowan Nor that he has infiltrated Russian crime groups, Mexican drug cartels, and outlaw motorcycle clubs, nor gone undercover to nab criminals of a multitude of stripes, from contract murderers to corrupt politicians. It's not even that he won recognition from the highest levels of the FBI and the Department of Justice for completing some of the most daring and deadly assignments in recent memory. What bedazzles us most of all about  Mike McGowan is that he did all those things while sporting the same gigantic walrus mustache he sports even now (see it, up above?). "That was a little flipoff to the bad guys," he told us recently in a telephone interview. Both the mustache and its owner have been prominently mentioned in recordings of discussions among so...

The Philadelphia Cosa Nostra, at its zenith under Angelo Bruno, was a massive criminal empire in every sense of the word . Skinny Joey awaits word about possible retrial in Manhattan federal court. The crime family stretched far beyond the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's largest city, the sixth-most populous in the United States. Philadelphia, the economic (and cultural) heart of the Delaware Valley, is located along the lower Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers, within both the Mid-Atlantic region and the Northeast megalopolis. The "Bruno family" dominated the underworld throughout and beyond, for a time spilling into New Jersey and Boston, and as far away as Las Vegas to the west, Florida to the south, and overseas, in England. The crime family wielded immense influence over (at least) four labor unions in the Delaware Valley alone. It ran the city’s largest illegal gambling operations and was a de-facto "bank" that lent money to smaller gambling s...

We spoke with a longtime Philadelphia source about our previous story, on why the Fed's sought to limit the scope of the FBI's investigation into the so-called East Coast LCN Enterprise (see indictment, here ). Was it out of hubris or incompetence, we wrote. Our source noted that the FBI's local office in Philadelphia continues its investigation of the Philadelphia mob no matter what happens in New York's Southern District's case.

Things are going from bad to worse for Philadelphia's alleged mob boss. First, his fine-dining establishment in Boca was put on the block a mere months following its grand opening. Then Skinny Joey was linked to a group of c onvicted criminals and individuals with organized crime ties  who "dumped tons of contaminated soil and construction debris near residential areas and waterways in New Jersey in recent years." Joey Merlino may no longer be able to indulge in gambling in Pennsylvania following an altercation. Now the Pennsylvania State Gaming Control Board no longer wants Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino strutting into any of the state's casinos -- as George Anastasia reported last week for Philly Voice -- so t hey filed a petition to prohibit Merlino from doing just that .

VH!'s reality show is in the block EXPANDED Mob Wive s will have a new owner -- and it's ITV, the same broadcaster that aired the recent Mafia with Trevor McDonald two-part series, one of the most watched non-scripted shows in Britain. It featured John Alite , the topic of George Anastasia's Gotti's Rules: The Story of John Alite, Junior Gotti, and the Demise of the American Mafia , among other former mobsters. What a sale means for Mob Wives and its viewers is open to debate, as The Weinstein Company will continue to manage its television division though it is "in the process of selling [it] to ITV, the British broadcaster that has been on a buying spree of late," as  The Hollywood Reporter  revealed today. The deal's value could be worth $950 million. It involves an up-front payment of around $400 million with "an escalating package of compensation and bonuses that would nearly triple the initial purchase price," sources told THR.

Sir Trevor McDonald's two-part series The Mafia With Trevor McDonald debuts this month. We previously ran a  trailer for the show . The show seeks to provide insight into the Mafia's "brutal, unforgiving hierarchy," as the  Daily Mail  noted. Former Philly mob boss Ralph Natale The program debuts Monday, March 23 at 9 pm -- however, of you're in the U.S. you'll probably have to watch it via your computer.

John Alite, left, George Anastasia at Free Library event last night. PhillyVoice : "George Anastasia, nationally renowned crime reporter, author and Philadelphia Inquirer writer, will make an appearance at the Free Library on Tuesday, Feb. 24. He will be reading from his new book, " Gotti's Rules: The Story of John Alite, Junior Gotti, and the Demise of the American Mafia ." "Gotti's Rules," which was released last month by Harper Collins, goes behind the scenes of New York City's Gambino crime family from the point of view of the man who betrayed them, John Alite . Alite was a hit-man who later testified against close friend Junior Gotti. "In his book, Anastasia uses FBI documentation and interviews to construct the story of John A. Gotti's rise to notoriety and how Junior later filled his big shoes.